A Piano Problem in Ballard
A ten-year-old boy writes a humorous letter to a local piano merchant with a very specific complaint about his new instrument.
Ballard, Washington, February 7th, 1891. My Dear Mr. Mustek: I am a boy ten going on eleven and my paw bought one of your pianers last week and I want you to cum and take it back coz it baint got no laigs on fur me to ty my hobby horse too. I want you to send us one with 5 laigs, one on each corner and one in the middle. I know you will be glad to traid coz I heard maw say as this the best soundin pianer she ever seen. I dont kare if the one you traid to us dont sound so good just so it has five laigs. Maw says this pianer is a Webber. I dont figger out why that kind dont have laigs same as other kind. I think your name is Pettis and you sells pianers at Front street. But your name aint be if you dont tend to this right away. Yours truly, Pucilo Organansing.
“I dont kare if the one you traid to us dont sound so good just so it has five laigs.”
This charming, albeit likely satirical or whimsical, letter captures the spirit of early Ballard. It offers a brief moment of levity amidst the dry legislative news and serious crime reporting of the era.
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